


Heartache trio

by RinRin



Series: Tumblr Fics [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Tumblr Fic, but I could be convinced, currently have no plans of continuing this, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 06:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinRin/pseuds/RinRin
Summary: Barry has two crushes, and doesn't know what to do.  Someday it might be better though.Set in Season 1





	Heartache trio

**Author's Note:**

> While I would _love_ to continue this, I really haven't had any inspiration for this for several years (this was started back in season 1, lol).

Barry isn’t sure when he stopped looking at Eddie as the person that Iris would rather be with than even consider Barry.  Yet it still stands that Barry  _likes_ Eddie.  The other man is easy to be around.  Barry likes spending time with him, and he, well.  Eddie never gives any sort of impression that he thinks that spending time with Barry is any sort of hassle.  In fact, Barry would go as far as to say that Eddie  _liked_ spending time with him.

Then came the day that Barry was hit with the metaphorical clue-by-four, and found that he was at once jealous of both Iris and Eddie and neither of them.  He had easily dismissed the occasional fantasy of Eddie- the man was hot and Barry was lonely and frustrated, of course he fantasized of Eddie.  He could not so easily dismiss when his fantasies changed to always include both of them.  Then he realized that he was more sad of not being  _with_ them, than being jealous  _of_ either or both of them.  Then came the domestic fantasies.  He could imagine the three of them.  Oh could he imagine it.  The three of them, rushing about in the morning, because all or one of them had wanted to sleep in/stay in bed a bit longer, and none could deny cuddle time.  Them curled up in a tangled pile on an old couch, just watching some movie.  Barry and Iris standing together while Eddie took on some problem that The Flash couldn’t help with.  Eddie and Iris waiting for Barry to come back after dealing with a meta-human.  Eddie and Barry cheering on Iris as she continued with her journalism (maybe one day the two men watch their woman on the tv as she reported on something).  Lazy days spend together doing nothing.  Going out to dinners and stealing food from each other’s plates.  Barry wanted it.  God did he.  But then he would remember.  Iris only saw him as a brother, a best friend.  And Eddie may like him, but that was barely there, and, unlike Iris who Barry knew would accept that side of him, Barry was not very sure about how Eddie felt about bisexuals.  He at least didn’t care that the Captain had a boyfriend, but that could be perceived as the Captain being gay.

That was why instead of watching some dumb tv show or having a wonderful dinner with the two people he loved most in this world, he was instead curled up on a ratty old couch in sweats with Caitlin yelling at the inaccurate science on screen.  Cisco laughing in her kitchen as the male support teammate made some popcorn.  It was platonic between them all.  Barry had his not-thing with Iris and Eddie, Caitlin still loved Ronnie, and Cisco.  Well the other two weren’t sure on him.  He either was asexual, demisexual with no current friend-turned-lover, or he was getting regular one-night-stands/hook-ups at the various conventions he always seemed to find time for.  It was nice, spending time with the two outside of testing or hero business.

Still, when Barry went home that night, he  _dreamed._

* * *

 

It killed him how he had hurt them.  He _liked_ Eddie,  _liked_ liked him even.  Yet he had been so ruff with him, so  _angry_.  Barry felt ashamed even as he knew where it was coming from.  Iris had the excuse (it wasn’t really, just a reason, there were no  _excuses_ when it came to love.  Barry knew that) of growing up with him.  Of thinking of Barry “like a brother”.  Barry could accept that.  Yeah, he was hoping that one day she realized that no, they were not siblings, but still.  Eddie though.  Eddie didn’t have any sort of “excuse” like that.  Eddie was so kind to him.  That dark part of Barry grew angry at the kindness.  (How dare he be so kind, and yet not give Barry what he wanted? The three of them could be so _happy_ ).  Barry couldn’t even apologize for what he had done.

Then Barry realized.  He could.  There was nothing stopping him from visiting Eddie as he had once visited Iris.  So, he did.  He knew that this was not going to end well, but still he hoped.  (oh did he  _hope_ )

Barry caught Eddie as the man was walking home after a lunch date with Iris on one of the man’s few free days that Iris didn’t have off.  In a flash, Barry had Eddie on a nearby roof.  The other man cursed as he remembered that he didn’t have a weapon on him.  He glared at Barry.

“What? Come to finish what you started?” Eddie growled.

“ **No, Detective.  I came for the opposite actually.  I wanted to apologize.  I never should have gone after you.  My only excuse is that I was under the influence of Bivolo’s power.  I know that that is still not a good reason for what I did, but it is a reason.** ”  Barry could only hold his breath, subconsciously hoping for…

“You’re right.  That’s not a good reason.  I don’t trust you, so why would I believe you? Now, are you going to come in willingly or do I have to force you?” the detective asked with a glare.  Barry’s hope shattered. (His heart cracked as well).

“ **I am sorry duck, but no.** ”  Barry turned and ran.  He couldn’t bare to look back.  How could he be with either of them and not tell them his secret? How could he tell them his secret when both hated The Flash? Caitlin and Cisco couldn’t help him with this, but Barry knew who could.  He would go to Oliver.

* * *

 

Iris couldn’t help but yelp when a red blur solidified in front of her.  Barry’s green eyes stared back at her as she swore at the spilled coffee.

“Barry!  I’ve told you not to  _do_ that!”  she complained as she mopped up the mess with a napkin.  The hero jerked back in surprise.

“You know who I am?” he asked shocked.

“Of course I know who you are, y-” she cut herself off, examining what she could see of his skin, "oh.  Barry, honey, you’ve time-traveled.“

"Wait, I can do that?” he gaped at her.

“Well, yes.  I wouldn’t recommend doing it often given the delicate nature of the time stream and how easy it is to effect everything with one small change.”  She gave him a cheeky grin, “Or rather, someone very smart and very fast wouldn’t recommend it.”  

He nodded, blushing at her praise.  Iris held back a sigh.  Barry used to be so easy to make blush, now it took far more than modest and true praise to bring red to the cheeks of the Scarlet Speedster.

“Um, how did you find out?” she let him change the subject.

“You told me.”  he beamed, and she couldn’t help but feel bad for the next part. “Or I stumbled upon you with the suit, or Cisco told me, or Caitlin told me, or Dad told me.  Maybe it was Eddie, or any number of people that learned your secret.  Perhaps you were ousted.  Maybe you willingly removed your mask for the world to see.  There could have been a law that you couldn’t break that forced your hand.  Maybe I just put together all of the clues.”  as she went on she could see his face fall, and the slight flicker when she proposed Eddie told her.  _Oh love, we kept you waiting so long._  "That’s the thing with time travel, you can’t learn anything from the future, and you can’t teach the past.  I would love to tell you how it all turns out, but you need to live it, not recall my words.“

"But, I already know now that you’ll know one day.”  he protested.

“Well, that was always a given.  You’ve never been able to keep a secret from me.”  she beamed at him.  His response was to mumble something under his breath.  Iris thought she knew what it was, and her heart ached.  "As much as I love seeing this version of you, Barry, you need to go back.  You’ve got a lot of life to live.“  Iris couldn’t help herself and planted a kiss on his cheek, lingering for a moment to long.  It was his turn to beam now, right before he reversed what he did and returned to his own time, this time without upsetting her coffee.

The door to their house opened, and Iris couldn’t help but rush over and give Barry a hard kiss.

"Not that I’m complaining, because I do like a good show, but is there a reason for the enthusiastic welcome home?” Eddie asked as he put down his and Barry’s bags.  Iris finally tore her lips from Barry’s.

“I was just kind of hit with the realization of how long we weren’t together, and how Barry’s changed over the years.”  She waved off the third of the triad.  Barry’s eyes widened.

“That was today?” he asked, as Eddie looked between them confused.  She nodded.

“Let’s go to bed.  We can explain to Eddie later.”  With that Iris grasped the wrist of her two lovers and pulled them to the bedroom.

* * *

 

It was several weeks after Eddie came face to face with the yellow speedster that he finally saw The Flash once more.  It was right after the speedster had stopped a robbery, and was watching the proceedings just out of site in an ally.  Eddie only saw him because he had accidentally dropped a pen as he walked up to the scene and had quickly turned to get it.  The detective inched his way towards the ally, so as to not scare away the hero.

“Can we talk?” he asked the masked man under his breath, pretending to need to eat something, as if he hadn’t eaten all day (that was such a lie.  Barry had had a muffin waiting for Eddie that morning in the lab when the detective popped in to say “morning”, but aside from Joe, no one knew that).  He felt more than saw the speedster tense. “Just talk, I swear.”  Out of the corner of his eye he saw a nod.

“ **I will grab you after you are done here.  Will that suffice?** ” came the odd voice- strange and almost inhuman, yet so very familiar to Eddie.  The detective nodded.

When the speedster stopped moving, the two were once more on top of a building.  Eddie wanted to make a joke about the Flash ‘coming here often’, but refrained.

“I wanted to say,” here Eddie swallowed, having to force the words he honestly felt out, “that I’m sorry.  I should have forgiven you when you asked…” he trailed off as he registered that the Flash was shacking his head no. _That would give me such a headache_ came the absent thought seeing the already blurred face move back and forth.

“ **You had every reason and right to refuse my apology duck.  I have no need for one myself.** ”

“Still, its at least there.”  here the detective paused, not sure if he should continue, “I recently was informed of the existence of meta-humans, and met someone…”  Eddie wasn’t sure how to describe the second speedster even if Flash already knew him.

“ **You already have a girlfriend.  Or did the two of you break up?** " 

"What? No! Its not like that!”  Eddie sputtered, before realizing that the other was teasing him.  "No.  It was… he was like you, but not.“

” **Yeah, him.  I honestly don’t know much about him, just that he seems to have it out for me.** “  The Flash shrugged.  Eddie nodded.

"I’ve talked to my boss.  Given the circumstances, we’re dropping the charges against you and the task-force is now going to be focused on helping you and going after this other guy.”

“ **… Really? Well then, thank you duck.** ”  The surprise was evident in the strange voice.

“You know, you keep calling me that, but you don’t really seem British, so…" 

” **There was a time in my life where I wanted to know all the generic terms of affection there were, even if they were used more, shall we say, casually.  Duck was one of them, and it seems to fit.** “  Eddie colored a bit at that.

"So does that mean you like me?” he teased.

“ **Well, you are attractive.** ” came the calm reply. “ **And wearing this mask is very freeing.  I do not have to worry as much about the consequences should I oust myself as a bisexual.** ”  Eddie was thrown for a second.

“I can see how that would be nice.  Not having to deal with everyone thinking that you are greedy, or sex obsessed.”  Eddie mussed. “Ah! Does that mean that you’ve got someone special in your life that you can’t tell?”

“ **Careful there Duck, that’s edging into personal information.** ”  the speedster teased once more, “ **But to answer your question, there’s actually two, and its more of a pining situation than a 'I can’t come out to my significant other’ situation.** ”  Eddie felt for the man. “ **Also, I am pretty sure that both of them dislike me, or at least, do not trust or want to be around me as I am.** ”  For a second, Eddie thought he meant being a bisexual, before realizing that he was talking about the suit and all it entailed.

“I wish I could say that no one could, but as my recent past shows…”  The two were silent for a while.  "Listen, I have to get back to work.  There’s only so long that Joe can cover for me.  But, we should meet up some time.  I think you could use some one to talk to that doesn’t know all the information.“

” **Won’t your girlfriend be upset?** “ came the surprised query.

"Well, yeah.  At least in the beginning, but I think I can talk her around.”  The Flash nodded at that, and suddenly, Eddie found himself in front of the precinct, the Flash looking at him for… something.

“ **See you around Duck.** ”  and he was gone.  Eddie walked into the precinct and sat at his desk, flicking a bobble-head doll that had been a gift from an ex-boyfriend.  He thought about how sad the Flash had sounded when talking about his crushes, about how Iris had been looking at Barry differently ever sense Christmas, and about how lovely Barry’s butt had looked in those slacks at the party.  Eddie hummed before getting started on his paperwork.  He wanted to get out fast, so he could talk with Iris.  Maybe they could all be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> I went looking for obscure terms of endearment, which lead to Duck, which came from the Celtic (or Keltic) diogh/jiogh which in turn signifies life, breath and is the equivilant of “my life! I love thee” according to the source I found. I liked that, and imagine that Barry went through a phase where he looked up a bunch or random words, and this was one of them.


End file.
